The Navajo Nation and COVID-19's crippling impact on native health

The Navajo Nation and COVID-19's crippling impact on native health
Written by: Sonja Stojiljković

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The Navajo Nation (or Diné Bikéyah, as known by local residents) is a country the size of West Virginia with its own culture and language, as well as the largest and most sophisticated form of American Indian government. More than 350.000 residents scattered over 27.000 square miles of territory covering parts of Utah, Arizona and New Mexico are now in grave danger due to the recent pandemic outbreak. So how come we are still largely unaware of their critically underdeveloped infrastructure and high vulnerability to the COVID-19 pandemic? 

With a current total of 2.292 cases of coronavirus and 73 known deaths, this neglected community is begging for our help and we are in no position to ignore the situation any longer.

There is a great irony at play when it comes to the Navajo Nation’s relationship to the virus. Even though this territory has an extremely low population density, its residents are traditionally used to big families living in a tight-knit community. They depend on each other and seek comfort in one another, which might initially sound like a great support system during an epidemic, but is actually the main reason the disease is spreading so rapidly. How can we issue a social distancing policy to a society that is extremely dependent on co-existence and inter-family cooperation?

On March 20, after a total of 14 confirmed cases, a stay-at-home order was issued in an attempt to minimize the risk. Needless to say, it was pretty unsuccessful due to the abovementioned reason. With only 12 health care facilities spread out across a large territory, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for members of the Nation to access basic health care resources and reach emergency services. As a result, some of the COVID-19 patients from the Nation have been transported to hospitals in bigger cities nearby (Phoenix, Flagstaff, etc.), but this is not a long-term solution since those hospitals are bound to reach full capacity sometime soon. 

Another major problem is the chronically poor health of the residents, which makes them even more vulnerable to the virus. The residents of the Navajo nation are historically known to have high rates of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and even cancer. Worst of all, the situation they are encountering right now is not at all unprecedented. During the swine flu outbreak of 2009, Native Americans died at four to five times the rate of other Americans, which is beyond horrifying.

Underdeveloped infrastructure is making it almost impossible for the residents to implement recommended prevention measures. Around 35% of residents don’t even have running water in their homes and 15.000 residents don’t have electricity. With these facts in mind, it’s easy to understand how prevention measures such as regular hand-washing are making the members of the Nation extremely anxious and frustrated. 

In addition, their health care systems are experiencing constant delays in mandatory government funding. However, not all hope is lost, because public health groups such as the Center for American Indian Health (CAIH) are starting to take action. CAIH is building hand-washing stations for those without running water and delivering care packages of food, water and cleaning supplies to remote homes and the elderly. The Community Outreach and Patient Empowerment Program (COPE), a nonprofit focused on native health, has helped turn local motels into respiratory care facilities for the homeless population in Navajo country. 

Because of the lack of essential government funding, the Navajo Nation was forced to spend $4 million from its own coffers and, as a result, many traditional sources of revenue had to be shut down. 

They recently made an unprecedented move of putting out a public call for donations asking for funding and supplies, which is more than enough to alarm us about the severity of the situation. At this moment, the only hope is the CARES act - $8 billion sum appropriated for American Indian tribes as part of the March coronavirus stimulus package. 

However, a small part of that sum is not nearly enough to get the Navajo residents back on their feet. That is why we have to start telling their story and wake the public up to their situation. Only if we work together to raise awareness can we hope to achieve anything in the long run.

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